Google has announced that its Google Play Movies & TV service will be discontinued on January 17, 2024, as part of its efforts to streamline its entertainment offerings. Users will be able to access their purchased content through the Google TV app, which will replace Google Play Movies & TV on Android TV devices and other platforms.
Google Play Movies & TV Shutdown Announcement
Google Play Movies & TV was launched in 2012 as a digital store for renting and buying movies and TV shows. Users could also link their accounts with other services like Movies Anywhere and Vudu to access their libraries across different devices.
However, Google has decided to shut down Google Play Movies & TV and merge it with the Google TV app, which was introduced in 2020 as a rebranded version of the Google Play Movies & TV app for Android TV devices. The Google TV app offers a personalized and curated interface for discovering and watching content from various streaming services, as well as accessing the user’s own library of purchased movies and TV shows.
Google has set a new date for the shutdown of Google Play Movies & TV: January 17, 2024. This is a month later than the original date of December 15, 2023, which was announced in April 2023. Google said that it extended the deadline to give users more time to transition to the Google TV app.
Impact on Users
Users who have purchased movies and TV shows from Google Play Movies & TV will still be able to watch their content through the Google TV app, which is available on Android, iOS, Chromecast with Google TV, Samsung Smart TVs, LG Smart TVs, Roku, and Vizio SmartCast. Users can also download their purchases for offline viewing through the Google TV app.
However, users who have Android TV devices that are not compatible with the Google TV app will lose access to their purchased content from Google Play Movies & TV after January 17, 2024. Google said that it is working with device manufacturers to update their software to support the Google TV app, but it did not provide a specific timeline or list of devices that will receive the update.
Users who have linked their Google Play Movies & TV accounts with other services like Movies Anywhere and Vudu will still be able to watch their content on those platforms, as long as they are available in their region. Users can also request a refund for their purchases from Google Play Movies & TV if they are not satisfied with the transition to the Google TV app.
Other Changes in Google Services
The shutdown of Google Play Movies & TV is not the only change that Google is making to its entertainment services. Google has also announced that it will end its magazine subscriptions on Google News on January 1, 2024 and that it will replace its Google Podcasts app with YouTube Music by the end of 2023.
Google said that it is discontinuing its magazine subscriptions on Google News because of the low demand and the availability of other options for reading magazines online. Users who have subscribed to magazines on Google News will receive a full refund for their remaining balance, and they will be able to access their past issues until January 31, 2024.
Google said that it is replacing its Google Podcasts app with YouTube Music because it wants to offer a single destination for music and podcasts. Users who have subscribed to podcasts on Google Podcasts will be able to transfer their subscriptions and progress to YouTube Music, which will also feature new features like personalized recommendations and offline downloads for podcasts. Users who prefer to use a different podcast app can export their subscriptions from Google Podcasts using an RSS feed.
